Another election, this one in Rensselaer County, will see no challenges in key races.

THE STAKES:

Just what is the point of elections if there's no choice?

Should we just skip the formalities and declare, now and for all time, Republicans the rulers of Rensselaer County? While we're at it, why not give Democrats the permanent franchise in Albany County?

If even joking about that prospect offends you, well, good. It should. So should the likelihood that the latest installment in the ongoing saga of one-party politics in the Capital Region is coming again this fall to Rensselaer County, where voters will have no choice — for the third election in a row — in who administers their county and controls their public records.

More unfortunately, this is not all that exceptional. Voters in Albany County two years ago had no choice on most key races — for county executive, comptroller, Family Court judge, and sheriff. And dozens of town and village races in much of the region typically go uncontested as well, with Republicans or Democrats coasting to victory depending on the locale.

Democracy this is not.

The word from Rensselaer County Democratic Chairman Thomas Wade is that his party won't be fielding anyone for either the county executive's or county clerk's position, giving Republicans Kathleen Jimino and Frank Merola apparently free rides.

We realize that in many areas here, there's a sense of unbeatable odds. That might seem particularly so in Albany County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2-to-1. Yet Democrats still represent only half the county's enrolled voters, and it's not unheard of for a Republican to win county-wide election, as Michael Hoblock did the county executive seat in 1991 (albeit it with the scandalous tenure of Democrat James Coyne in his sails).

Lopsided enrollment certainly shouldn't be a discouraging factor in Rensselaer County, where there are actually more enrolled Democrats (about 30,000) than Republicans (25,000), as well as plenty of people with no listed party (about 30,000).

Mr. Wade insists there's no lack of qualified Democratic candidates. He says it all comes down to money.

That might have been a valid excuse even 10 years ago, before modern social media came into full bloom. But since the middle of the last decade, we've witnessed vast movements and revolutions springing from little more than Internet word of mouth, and entire governments brought down through the power of ideas. Guns and aid came later.

Yet we're to believe that in the nation where social media was born politicians are helpless unless someone writes them a check?

A lot of voters — even a majority — may well be pleased with Ms. Jimino and Mr. Merola. But we'll never really know, if political leaders keep treating democracy as a theory. And the real fear is that, eventually, they and the rest of us might forget how it's practiced at all.